Analysis of the 12th Ordinary Summit of the African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government

This seminar report details an analysis of the 12th Ordinary Summit of the African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government, held in Addis Ababa from 26 January to 3 February 2009. The event featured presentations on the poor implementation of AU decisions, the legal challenges of transforming the AU Commission into an Authority, and the AU's response to International Criminal Court (ICC) indictments regarding Sudan.

• Ambassador Patrick N. Sinyinza reported that only approximately 10 percent of AU Assembly Decisions are implemented. He attributed this poor record to several factors: the Commission submits too many decisions for the Council and Assembly to scrutinize, decisions are often agenda-led, the Commission lacks the absorption capacity to implement them, the six-month cycle between Summits is too short to execute an average of 40 decisions per Summit, and decisions are frequently adopted without considering financial implications or budgetary allocations.
• To improve implementation, Ambassador Sinyinza recommended that the AU review past decisions for relevance, allow greater flexibility in reviewing Council and Assembly decisions via a committee at the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) level, and pause new decisions until this review is complete. He further suggested the AU focus on core competencies such as conflict resolution, peace and security, election monitoring, the rule of law, response to emergencies, and the welfare of refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, rather than areas better handled by national bodies or Regional Economic communities (RECs).
• Mr. Ibrahima Kane identified significant legal and structural hurdles in transforming the AU Commission into an Authority, including the need for Member States to cede part of their sovereignty, the requirement to amend the AU Constitutive Act and harmonize constitutions, and the lack of a detailed decision on the Authority's composition, functions, and financial implications. He also noted a financial imbalance where 70% of the Union's budget is provided by only five countries.
• Ambassador Akuei Malwal discussed the AU's response to the International Criminal Court's (ICC) indictment of the President of Sudan and other high officials. He noted that AU Decision 142 established a high-panel investigation to determine if Sudan's national judicial institutions could prosecute violence in Darfur, warning that the ICC indictment could destabilize the Darfur peace talks in Doha and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

APA

Institute for Security Studies (2009). Analysis of the 12th Ordinary Summit of the African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/AUSUMSEMREP.PDF

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. Analysis of the 12th Ordinary Summit of the African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government. 2009. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/AUSUMSEMREP.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=Analysis of the 12th Ordinary Summit of the African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government |date=12 February 2009 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/AUSUMSEMREP.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudies2009analysis, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{Analysis of the 12th Ordinary Summit of the African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2009}, month = feb, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/AUSUMSEMREP.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }